Archive for Wednesday, January 9, 2013, 7:00 pm

Three months have gone by in one of the craziest election years I've ever seen. We're hoping you had as much fun (and angst) as we did on the ride, and if you can, a donation to keep us running would be greatly appreciated.

It's just the two of us, with Lucian handling the tech stuff, doing this whole shebang, day after day. We love it and love interacting with ya'll, but the server
and all sorts of sundry tidbits need to get paid. If we somehow brighten your day, educate or even irritate you at times, please consider a donation, big or small, to keep us bumping along. If everyone who dropped by on a daily basis dropped a coin in the bucket, we'd be done in no time. If you'd like a snail mail address, email me at paddy at thepoliticalcarnival dot net. Thank you.

Suddenly, because of one moment of justified outrage by this conservative, egocentric blowhard, I’m hearing how Democrats who couldn’t stand the guy are now saying they’re “fans.” That’s the word I’ve heard today, “fans.” And as I wrote in that very post, Chris Christie is indeed charismatic, even entertaining, and of course, blunt. But let’s not forget that he’s still rude, nasty, and this guy: Link. Link.

That Link. Link part? You may want to check those out. Here's a sample or three from of one of them:

Social Issues: On abortion, Christie has described his position as "pro-life, I believe in exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the mother. That's my position, take it or leave it." Christie supports civil unions for same-sex couples, but is opposed to gay marriage.

What happens when the government gives a get out of jail free pass to executives who run financial entities "too big to fail"? The US taxpayers get the blowback.

The stockholders of A.I.G. -- the company which most came to symbolize egregious arrogance and double standards of banks and hedge funds ("no government financial regulation, but the taxpayers should bail us out when we gamble and lose") -- are in the process of suing the federal government. [...]

But the "taxpayer assumes responsibility for our gambling, but we get all the profits from being bailed out" attitude doesn't sit well with some lawmakers, such as newly elected Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), according to The NYT. Warren issued a statement that included a stern rebuke to A.I.G. and its shareholders [...]

Meanwhile, the honchos at Goldman Sachs just executed a scheme to avoid higher tax rates on their multi-million dollar bonuses, as reported by journalist Susan Antilla [...]

As Antilla, who regularly writes for the Bloomberg View, opines:

Goldman and its too-big-to-fail brethren are banks that accepted welfare and are in debt to U.S. taxpayers for averting disaster. This hasn't been about hard-nosed capitalism since those first TARP wire transfers made their way into Goldman Sachs' coffers.

While the DOJ and SEC should have been regarding the 2007 economic crash as a crime scene, they treated it like something deserving a parking ticket for the financial elite.

As a result, the same people who were responsible for so much economic misery have been emboldened to once again let greed trump accountability.

Before another minute goes by, I want to remind every woman who just found out she was pregnant (congratulations!) to remember to arm your zygote (revolvers are more practical since they're so small), buy it some cute outfits (it may be difficult to find the right size), and maybe provide it with some good reading material, since it's stuck in one place for months. Don't waste time reading this, ladies, take my advice and start treating your cells as people!

Oh, and when you go to the movies, make sure to sit in the front row so it can see better. Here's a helpful hint: When a police officer tries to ticket you for driving alone in the carpool lane, smile smugly and point to your abdomen.

I could go on.

And why, you might be asking, am I rambling on like an idiot with such inane suggestions to pregnant women? Here's why, via HuffPo:

Ryan, who reportedly has 2016 presidential ambitions, had to de-emphasize his opposition to abortion without exceptions during the 2012 election...

But see, now that it's 2013 and there are new elections on the horizon, Todd Akin's former BFF and personhood bill co-sponsor will be a keynote speaker for an anti-abortion group, because he's anxious to please them again after fake-positioning himself with Willard Romney as a more moderate phony, er, Republican. So back he goes, sniffing around for fresh support for a stale idea, and idea that voters have already rejected.

Laws like his would make birth control, like the morning-after pill or IUDs, illegal. Plus, abortions would be prohibited “from the moment of fertilization” which means that doctors would be hesitant to perform in vitro fertilization because they'd worry about being subjected to criminal charges if an embryo didn’t survive.

The personhood bill, first introduced in 2011 by Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.) and reintroduced by Broun last week, specifies that a "one-celled human embryo," even before it implants in the uterus to create a pregnancy, should be granted "all the legal and constitutional attributes and privileges of personhood."

It's fundraising time again! It's just the two of us, with Lucian handling the tech stuff, doing this whole shebang, 24/7/365. We love it and love interacting with ya'll, but we must pay for the server and other expenses.

If we somehow brighten your day, educate or even irritate you at times, please consider a donation, big or small, to keep us bumping along. If everyone who dropped by on a daily basis dropped a coin in the bucket, we'd be done in no time.